Well folks, summer is finally upon us (right?). Yes, I know for wetsiders in Washington the season doesn’t officially begin until July 5th, but our eastern Washington counterparts have been baking in the summer sun for some time. The equinox has already passed, and besides, July 4th is almost upon us! So it’s time to break out the barbeque and serve up some pink wine. Let’s get to it.Below are reviews from a number of rosés I have sampled from the 2011 vintage. Overall, this was an interesting vintage with a number of wineries making their first pink wines, including Gramercy Cellars, Maison Bleue, and Kerloo Cellars. In general, the cool growing season lent itself well to making rosés. As usual, I found wines crafted from grapes picked deliberately with rosé in mind to be the standouts.

As I’ve written before, pink wines get snapped up quickly in the Northwest – often before the summer season is even upon us – so make haste in stocking up your cellar for the warm days ahead. Summer is officially here!

Maison Bleue La Famille Rosé of Mourvedre Yakima Valley 2011 $20(Excellent/Exceptional) Pale salmon colored with a slight copper tone. Lightly aromatic but with great complexity with orange zest, strawberry, and spice. Palate is medium bodied and textured, drawing out for such a long time it’s impossible to separate where the palate stops and the finish begins. As compelling a rosé to come out of Washington to date. 90% Mourvedre (Olsen) and 10% Grenache (Boushey). Fermented and aged in stainless steel. 12.5% alcohol. 420 cases produced. Sample provided by winery.Reviewed April 25, 2012

Fjellene Cellars Rosé Columbia Valley 2011 $18(Excellent) The 2011 Fjellene Cellars Rosé is easily one of my favorites from the 2011 season, displaying intense fruit flavors while still remaining light on its feet. Pale pink, this is an aromatically generous wine with bubble gum, spice, orange peel, and a light herbal note. The palate is shimmers with intensity, absolutely loaded with fruit flavors, so much so that it almost comes off as sweet – but it’s not. 100% Syrah. Art Den Hoed Vineyard. 12.1% alcohol. 150 cases produced.

Kerloo Cellars Grenache Rosé Yakima Valley 2011 $19(Excellent) This is the first rosé release from this upstart Walla Walla winery and it’s a winner – although production is microscopic. Pale salmon colored, this is an aromatic wine with lilacs, red fruit, white pepper, and a light gamey note. The palate is dry and broad, full of red fruit flavors. 100% Grenache. Angiolina Farms. 12.1% alcohol. 22 cases produced.

DeLille Doyenne Rosé Yakima Valley 2011 $23(Good) DeLille’s 2011 rosé is made up of 63% Grenache and 37% Mourvedre. Pale copper colored with a slight orange tinge, it is a moderately aromatic wine with orange peel, red fruit, and spice. The palate is dry and drawn out with alcohol showing through at times. 14.1% alcohol.

Goedhart Family Rosé of Syrah Bel’ Villa Vineyard Red Mountain 2011 $NA(Good) Red Mountain is known for its bold, tannic reds. Rosés? Somewhat rare beasts. Here the Goedhart Family, which dedicates itself to the production of Syrah from Bel’ Villa Vineyard, shows that it can be done and done well. Pale pink, this is an aromatically appealing wine with bubble gum, strawberry, and watermelon. The palate is dry and fruit filled. Recommended

Northwest Wine Academy Rosé Wine Yakima Valley 2011 $13(Good) This is a blend of grapes that seems almost inconceivable to believe it would work but it does. Pale copper colored, this a very lightly aromatic wine with cherry, spice, and apple aromas. The palate is dry, tart, and drawn out with a whole lot of acid. 51% Nebbiolo, 23% Mourvedre, 15% Cinsault, 11% Cabernet Franc. 89% Gilbert, 11% Lubin vineyards. 12.3% alcohol.

Tranche Cellars Pink Pape Dry Rosé Wine Columbia Valley 2011 $16(Good) Tranche’s inaugural rosé in 2010 was a runaway success and was gone in the blink of an eye. The 2011 offering will do doubt suffer the same fate on both accounts. A very pretty, pale salmon color, this is an aromatically restrained wine with strawberry, cherry, and bubblegum notes. The palate is fruit filled with a broad feel with watermelon flavors and a crisp finish. Counoise, Cinsault, and Syrah. Blackrock Estate Vineyard. Recommended

Please note, my rating system was revised at the beginning of 2012 as follows. Read additional details here.(Exceptional)(Excellent)(Good)(Decent)(Not recommended/Flawed)

Readers, please note that Blogger, where this site is hosted, has upgraded to a new version which has significant bugs and formatting issues. There are, at present, no work arounds, so you may see significant formatting errors within the posts.

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I love a good Rose this time of year thanks for the post Sean.I need to get out there and start drinking some. We just released a Pinot Gris Rose at Goose Ridge and it is pretty interesting, could use a little more acid but not bad for our first try. It is light colored with raspberry and strawberry flavors.Justin M

I recently visited Woodhouse Family Estates' 2011 Kennedy Shah Rosé of Mourvèdre. I thought it was stunning with intensely flavored fruit and pepper notes. I would like to see what you think.Regards,Billps) I don't have a goggle account, sorry about that.